Badge or button



Sept. 11, 1956 v. MILAZZO BADGE OR BUTTON Filed Sept. 17, 1954 INVENTOR: VICTOR MILAZZO ing the stamping and pin in United States Patent BADGE 0R BUTTON Victor Milazzo, Chicago, Ill. Application September 17, 1954, Serial No. 456,643 '5 Claims. (Cl. 401.5)

This invention relates to badges or buttons, such as are usually made of printed or lithographed sheet metal.

The main objects of the present invention are to provide an improved button structure of this kind in which the pin is pivotally secured to the body of the button; to provide improved means for latching the pin securely on the button body when it is attached to a garment or other surface; and to provide a button or badge of the character described which is simple in operation, has no parts to get out of order, and is very inexpensive to manufacture.

A specific embodiment of this invention in the form of a litho-metal button is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing the shape of the blank stamping.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same but with the marginal flanges in completed, finished condition, but with the pin omitted.

Figs. 3 and 4 are detailed Fig. 5 shows a rear view elevational views of the pin. of the finished button showtheir normal assembled relation to each other with the pin extending over the flange of the button.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the pin in its latched relation to the marginal flanges of the button and indicating by dotted lines how the pin is passed through the slot and latched in the notched edge of the flange; and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6, the normal unlatched position of the pin being indicated by dotted lines.

In the form shown, the button body 10 comprises a circular disc with its front face lithographed with an emblem of some kind, or other printed indicia for display or badge purposes and with its marginal edges 11 curled upwardly, and inwardly with respect to said front face, in the customary manner.

According to the present invention the shape of the blank 10 is as shown in Fig. 1. It has two spaced radial slots 12 on one peripheral side forming a lip portion 13 between them which, as will be hereinafter explained, serves as a hinge member to mount the pin in place on the button.

At the diametrically opposite side of the lip 13 is a radial slot 14 and spaced at one side thereof, there is a slight notch 15 in the inturned edge of the marginal flange 11.

The pin 16 is the ordinary common straight pin with a head 17 at one end and a point 18 at the other. The shank of the pin adjacent the head 17 forms a hinge portion 19 and is bent to one side at an angle 19.1 to hinge portion 19 so that when the hinge portion 19 of the pin is mounted under the hinge lip portion 13 of the flange 11, the point of the pin 18 will normally swing in a plane at right angles to the hinge portion 19 and common to the latch notch 15 in the edge of the flange 11.

The head 17 of the pin and the bend 19.1 serve to provide shoulders that loosely abut the sides of slots 12 to prevent axial shifting of the hinge portion 19 in the lip 13.

2 Due to the bend 19.1, the tip mally assumes the position tion in which it is shown Fig. 7 by broken lines.

The shank portion of the pin 16 portion 19 is offset by bends 20 and 21 that are oppositely directed along the path of movement of said shank portion about the axis of its hinge portion, so as to provide a shoulder 22 that abuts against the back of the button body 10 so that the pin will stand normally in the position with respect to the button body as shown by broken lines in Fig. 7 and require some resilient yielding when it is depressed to enter the slot 14.

In the operation of shaping the pin, it is permanently set at the bend 19.1 to swing about the hinge portion 19, so that in its limiting position toward the disc 10, the shank of the pin will extend diametrically across the button with its pointed tip over the flange 11, with its path of movement about the hinge portion 19 alined with the notch 15, as shown by solid lines in Figs. 5 and 6. When the shank 16 is in its limit of free movement with the end 18 of the pin 16 norwith respect to the hinge porin Fig. 5 by full lines and in adjacent the hinge shoulder 22 abutting against the disc 10, it will normally stand clear of the flange 11, as shown by broken lines in Fig. 7. Thus the tip end of the pin normally swings in an imaginary plane at right angles to the hinge portion 19 and passing through the notch 15. As a matter of choice, the path of movement of the point 18 can be made to swing in a plane intersecting the slot 14 with a slight difference in the operation of seating it in the notch 15.

The pin, being essentially a spring, tends to return to its permanently set position, and, therefore, when seated in the notch 15 normally tends to remain in that notch against movement in any direction except by application of force.

The function of the shoulder 22 in limiting the normal free swinging movement of the pin toward the disc 10 can also be performed by slightly offsetting the head 17 as by a bend 19.2, shown in Fig. 3, so that the head acts as a shoulder preventing displacement of the pin.

The fact that the pin is free to swing on its hinge portion 19, except as limited by the shoulder 22, frees it for insertion into the cloth of a garment Without interference by the disc of the button. After the pin has been inserted into and out of the garment, the button is swung down against the garment and, by pressure of the operators fingers, the pin is pressed to one side as shown by broken lines in Fig. 6, so as to pass into and below the slot 14 and allow the pin to spring to the left of Fig. 6, into engagement with the notch 15. It is thus securely latched with the resilient spring action of the pin shank tending to hold it seated in the notch 15. To unlatch the pin, the body is pressed toward the disc 10 to bring the head 18 below the flange 11 and shifted toward the right of Fig. 6 to a position where it is shown in dotted lines, when its spring action causes it to swing out of the slot 14 to permit the button to be withdrawn from the garment, or surface to which it is attached.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A button of the class described, comprising a sheet metal disc having a front face and having a peripheral marginal flange curled backward, inward and forward P embracing lip between said slots, and a third slot in said flange diametrically opposite said lip, a resilient pin comprising a hinge portion rotatably embraced by said lip and a shank portion disposed at an angle to said hinge portion and having a pointed :ti-p end, said shank portion being adapted to extend across said disc for engagement of said tip end with said flange adjacent to said third slot, said flange having a notch in its inturned edge at one side ofv said third .slot forlatching rengagement with said shank portion, and saidshank portion beingdisposed with respect to said hinge portion so asvto swing toward and away from said disc in a plane substantially'common to saidtnotch.

2. A button of .the class describedgcomprising a sheet metal disc having a front face and having a peripheral marginal flange curled backward, inward and forward with respect to said face, a pair of closely spaced slots in said flange at one side of. the button to form a pin-embracing lip between said slots, and .a third slot in said flange diametrically opposite' said lip, a resilient pin comprising a hinge portion rotatably embraced by said lip and a shank portion disposed at an angle to said hinge portion and having a pointed tip end, saidrshank portion being adapted to extend across said disc for engagement of said tip end with said flange adjacent to said third slot, said flange having a notch in its inturned edge atone side of said third slot for latching engagement with said shank portion, said shank portion being disposed with respect to said hinge portion so as to swing toward and away from said disc in a plane substantially common to said notch, and said shank being offset adjacent said hinge portion to bear against said disc when said shank is sprung into latching engagement with said flange.

3. A button structure according to claim 1, in which 30 the hinge portion of said pin has shoulders at both ends to engage edges of said first-named pair of slots to prevent axial shifting of said hinge portion.

4. A button structure according to claim 1, in which the hinge portion of said pin has shoulders at both ends,

to engage edges of said first-named pair of slots to prevent axial shifting of said hinge portion, and in which the pin is shaped adjacent to one of said shoulders to provide a stop shoulder adapted to bear against said disc to limit the hinge movement of the pin shank toward the disc,

and to cause said pin to resiliently resist displacement from latching engagement with said flange.

5. A button, comprising a sheet metal disc, having a front face and having a peripheral marginal flange curled backward, inward and forward with respect to said front face, a pair of closely spaced slots in said flange at one side, of the button to form a pin-embracing lip between said slots, and a third slot in saidflange diametrically opposite said lip, said flange having a latch notch spaced at one side of said third slot, a resilient pin having a head seated in one of said first-named slots, said pin having a hinge portion adjacent said head and rotatably embraced by said lip, and said "pin having a'shank portion extending from said hinge portion through the other of said firstnamed slots and diametrically across said disc for latching engagement with said latch notch, said pin having a stop shoulder adjacent said hinge portion adapted to bear against said disc to limit the hinge movement of said shank and cause said pin to be normally urged by its own resilienee to remain in engagement with said notch.

References Cited in the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

